Registration Dossier
Registration Dossier
Data platform availability banner - registered substances factsheets
Please be aware that this old REACH registration data factsheet is no longer maintained; it remains frozen as of 19th May 2023.
The new ECHA CHEM database has been released by ECHA, and it now contains all REACH registration data. There are more details on the transition of ECHA's published data to ECHA CHEM here.
Diss Factsheets
Use of this information is subject to copyright laws and may require the permission of the owner of the information, as described in the ECHA Legal Notice.
EC number: 239-018-0 | CAS number: 14940-41-1
- Life Cycle description
- Uses advised against
- Endpoint summary
- Appearance / physical state / colour
- Melting point / freezing point
- Boiling point
- Density
- Particle size distribution (Granulometry)
- Vapour pressure
- Partition coefficient
- Water solubility
- Solubility in organic solvents / fat solubility
- Surface tension
- Flash point
- Auto flammability
- Flammability
- Explosiveness
- Oxidising properties
- Oxidation reduction potential
- Stability in organic solvents and identity of relevant degradation products
- Storage stability and reactivity towards container material
- Stability: thermal, sunlight, metals
- pH
- Dissociation constant
- Viscosity
- Additional physico-chemical information
- Additional physico-chemical properties of nanomaterials
- Nanomaterial agglomeration / aggregation
- Nanomaterial crystalline phase
- Nanomaterial crystallite and grain size
- Nanomaterial aspect ratio / shape
- Nanomaterial specific surface area
- Nanomaterial Zeta potential
- Nanomaterial surface chemistry
- Nanomaterial dustiness
- Nanomaterial porosity
- Nanomaterial pour density
- Nanomaterial photocatalytic activity
- Nanomaterial radical formation potential
- Nanomaterial catalytic activity
- Endpoint summary
- Stability
- Biodegradation
- Bioaccumulation
- Transport and distribution
- Environmental data
- Additional information on environmental fate and behaviour
- Ecotoxicological Summary
- Aquatic toxicity
- Endpoint summary
- Short-term toxicity to fish
- Long-term toxicity to fish
- Short-term toxicity to aquatic invertebrates
- Long-term toxicity to aquatic invertebrates
- Toxicity to aquatic algae and cyanobacteria
- Toxicity to aquatic plants other than algae
- Toxicity to microorganisms
- Endocrine disrupter testing in aquatic vertebrates – in vivo
- Toxicity to other aquatic organisms
- Sediment toxicity
- Terrestrial toxicity
- Biological effects monitoring
- Biotransformation and kinetics
- Additional ecotoxological information
- Toxicological Summary
- Toxicokinetics, metabolism and distribution
- Acute Toxicity
- Irritation / corrosion
- Sensitisation
- Repeated dose toxicity
- Genetic toxicity
- Carcinogenicity
- Toxicity to reproduction
- Specific investigations
- Exposure related observations in humans
- Toxic effects on livestock and pets
- Additional toxicological data
Endpoint summary
Administrative data
Description of key information
Additional information
Triiron bis(orthophosphate) (CAS 14940-41-1) is an inorganic iron salt of phosphoric acid. The substance does not undergo biological degradation. Triiron bis(orthophosphate) will be removed from the water column by hydrolytic transformation or chemical precipitation. The precipitates of iron and phosphorus will be further transformed in soil and sediment systems by mineralisation.
Iron and phosphorus are both natural elements, which are present in all environmental compartments.
Iron is an essential trace element for nearly all organisms. It is well known, iron is essential for biological requirements of phytoplankton and aquatic plants, e.g. photosynthesis is influenced by iron as well as chlorophyll pigment biosynthesis (Xing 2011). Iron is the second most abundant metal and fourth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust (Taylor 1964). The iron concentration in water is quite low because of low solubility of most iron compounds (Shaked et al. 2004). Iron enters the environment due to anthropogenic influences such as wastewater and storm-water discharges, which is the first source of iron in freshwater (Xing et al. 2006). Natural iron sources are weathered rocks and soil around watersheds, which outcome depends on many factors, especially geological process, soil composition, environmental temperature, precipitation and hydrology (Harris 1992). When iron-bearing minerals were break down by chemical and biological weathering, iron could release into aqueous solution.
The environmental fate and transport of iron salts is dominated by three processes: the oxidative conversion between Iron (II) and Iron (III), the formation of insoluble oxides and hydroxides, and adsorption of iron salts with other soil components. Iron is redox-active, and therefore, it is involved in many redox processes in the environment. “Redox transformation of iron, leading to either dissolution or precipitation, and thus mobilization and redistribution of iron, are caused by chemical and to a significant extent by microbial processes (see attachment Fig. 1).”
Transformations of iron by microorganisms are often much faster than the respective chemical reactions. They occur in most soils and sediments, both in freshwater and marine environments (Thamdrup 2000; Straub et al. 2001; Cornell and Schwertmann 2003).
In the environment different Fe(II), Fe(III) and mixed Fe(II)-Fe(III) minerals are found. Microbial activities play an important role when many of them are used, produced or transformed (see attachment Table 1).
The iron transport and distribution depend on pH, redox potential (Eh) and the presence or absence of other dissolved constituents which form with FE(II) or FE(III) dissolved complexes, colloids or poorly soluble mineral phases (Boyd and Ellwood 2010; Konhauser et al. 2011a; Radic et al. 2011; Raiswell 2011). With increasing Eh and pH the amount if iron dissolved in groundwaters, rivers and seawater decreases (see attachment Fig. 2) (Kendall 2012).
Triiron bis(orthophosphate) is subject to hydrolysis when the substance is released to water. During hydrolysis, Triiron bis(orthophosphate) decomposes into iron and orthophosphate ion, whereas Ferric iron (Fe3+) is the stable form in oxygenated waters, which forms at neutral pH highly insoluble oxides and hydroxides (Wang 1998; Simpson 2002; Zhang 1999).
In anoxic waters ferrous iron (Fe2+) is stable. As dissolved ion it occurs usually in many freshwater systems. Insoluble salts will be formed in the presences of high carbonate, sulphide and orthophosphate levels (Stumm, W. and Morgan, J. J. 1981).
Adsorption and uptake processes between microorganism and the aqueous solution play an important role for mobility, reactivity and the bioavailability of iron in aqueous solution (Geesey 1977; Harvey 1982; Mahmood 1993; Corapcioglu 1995). In a study from Kouakou (2013), the maximum adsorption capacities of Fe2+Fe2+ calculated by the Langmuir model were respectively 15 and 31 mg/g with synthetic solution at an initial Fe2+ concentration of 5 mg /L. The removal of Fe2+ from wastewater was around 70% (Kouakou et al. 2013).
With adsorption of Fe(II) to particle surfaces (complexation with surface hydroxyl groups) the oxygenation rate of Fe(II) grows up in a similar way as hydrolysis in solution (complexation with OH− ions). The dissolution kinetics is monitored by surface processes (and not transport processes). The rate of dissolution is proportional to the surface complexes created on the surface of Fe(III) (hydr)oxides. “Thus, a reductant, such as ascorbate, exchanges electrons with a surface Fe(III) ion subsequent to its inner-sphere coordination to the oxide surface.” The Fe(II), which is formed although, is more easily detachable from the surface. Due to complex formation reactions of Fe(III) and Fe(II) with organic and inorganic ligands solute and solid complexes will be formed. Thus, electron cycling of Fe(III)-Fe(II) transformations are possible due to these complexes, which appear over the entire EH range within the stability of water (EH from −0.5 V to +1.1 V). Therefore, solid and solute Fe(II) complexes with silicates, with hydrous oxides (e.g., Fe3O4), and with sulfides are very efficient reductants (thermodynamic and kinetic) (Stumm and Sulzberger 1992).
The phosphorus and phosphate anions are ubiquitous in natural waters and essential micronutrient for many organisms. Orthophosphates are also formed by natural hydrolysis of human urine and faeces, animal wastes, food and organic wastes, mineral fertilisers, bacterial recycling of organic materials in ecosystems, etc. Phosphates are bio-assimilated by the bacterial populations and the aquatic plants and algae found in these different compartments and are an essential nutrient (food element) for plants, and stimulate the growth of water plants (macrophytes) and/or algae (phytoplankton) if they represent the growth-limiting factor.
Bioaccumulation and secondary poisoning are not considered significant for Triiron bis(orthophosphate) (CAS 14940-41-1). Triiron bis(orthophosphate) is not expected to bioaccumulate in organisms and food chains. In a GLP guideline study from the comparable substance Iron II sulphate heptahydrate (CAS 7782-63-0) following OECD 305 a BCF ≤ 20 was determined. An accumulation of phosphate in organisms is unlikely to pose a hazard potential, as the phosphate anion is an essential micronutrient for many organisms and the internal concentration is regulated biologically.
The availability of inorganic phosphorus in soils depends on precipitation-dissolution and sorption-desorption processes (Cornforth, 2005). Phosphorus ions are mainly immobilised in soils by adsorption to organic matter or by reaction with aluminium or iron to aluminium- and ironphosphates. Sato et al. (2009) observed that Phosphorus released from calciumphosphate was adsorbed to aluminium and iron-oxyhydroxides.
The air compartment is considered not relevant for Triiron bis(orthophosphate). Due to its physico-chemical properties, Triiron bis(orthophosphate) is not distributed or transported to the atmosphere as the substance is usually not emitted to air.
References
Boyd PW, Ellwood MJ (2010) The biogeochemical cycle of iron in the ocean. Nature Geoscience 3, 675–682.
Corapcioglu, M.Y., Kim, S. (1995). Modeling facilitated contaminant transport by mobile bacteria. J. Water Resour. Res. 31, 2639–2647 (cited in: González 2014)
Cornell R. M. and Schwertmann U. (2003). The iron Oxides: Structures, Properties, Reactions, Occurrences and Uses. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim
Cornforth, I. S. (2005). The fate of phosphate fertilisers in soil. Department of Soil Science, Lincoln University online: www. nzic. org. nz.
Geesey G.G., Richardson W.T., Yeomans H.G., Irvin R.T., Costerton J.W. (1977). Microscopic examination of natural sessile bacterial populations from an alpine stream. Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 1977, Vol. 23, No. 12 : pp. 1733-1736 (cited in: González 2014)
González A.G., Pokrovsky O.S., Jiménez-Villacorta F., Shirokova L.S., Santana-Casiano J.M., González-Dávila M. and Emnova E.E. (2014). Iron adsorption onto soil and aquatic bacteria: XAS structural study. Chemical Geology 372, 32-45
Harris, J.E. (1992) Weathering of rock, corrosion of stone and rusting of iron. Meccanica, 27, 233-250.
Harvey, R.W., Lion, L.W., Young, L.Y., Leckie, J.O. (1982). Enrichment and association of lead and bacteria at particulate surfaces in a salt-marsh surface layer. J. Mar. Res. 40, 1201–1211 (cited in: González 2014)
Kappler A. and Straub K.L. (2005). Geomicrobiological Cycling of Iron. Reviews in Mineralogy & Geochemistry, Vol. 59, pp 85-108
Kendall B., Anbar A.D., Kappler A. and Konhauser K.O. (2012). The global iron cycle. In book: Fundamentals of Geobiology, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., chapter 6, 65-92
Konhauser KO, Kappler A, Roden EE (2011) Iron in microbial metabolisms. Elements 7, 89–93.
Kouakou U., Ello A.S., Yapo J.A. and Trokourey A. (2013). Adsorption of iron and zinc on commercial activated carbon. academicJournals, Vol. 5(6), pp. 168-171
Mahmood, S.K., Rao, P.R. (1993). Microbial abundance and degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 50 (4), 486–491 (cited in: González 2014)
Radic A, Lacan F, Murray JW (2011) Iron isotopes in the seawater of the equatorial Pacific Ocean: new constraints for the oceanic iron cycle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 306, 1–10.
Raiswell R (2011) Iron transport from the continents to the open ocean: the aging-rejuvenation cycle. Elements 7, 101–106.
Sato et al. (2009) Biogenic calcium phosphate transformation in soils over millennial time scales. Journal of Soils Sediments (2009) 9:194–205
Shaked, Y., Erel, Y. and Sukenik, A. (2004) The biogeochemical cycle of iron and associated elements in Lake Kinneret. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 68, 1439-1451.
Simpson, S.L., Rochford, L. and Birch, G.F. (2002) Geochemical influences on metal partitioning in contaminated estuarine sediments. Marine and Freshwater Research, 53, 9-17 (cited in: Xing W. and Liu G. (2011))
Straub K. L., Benz M., Schink B. (2001). Iron metabolism in anoxic environments at near neutral pH. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 34: 181-186
Stumm, W. and Morgan, J. J. (1981). Aquatic Chemistry. Wiley: New York
Stumm W. and Sulzberger B. (1992). The cycling of iron in natural environments: Considerations based on laboratory studies of heterogeneous redox processes. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 56, Issue 8, pp 3233-3257
Taylor, S.R. (1964) Abundance of chemical elements in the continental crust: a new table. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 28, 1273-1285.
Thamdrup B. (2000). Bacterial manganese and iron reduction in aquatic sediments. In: Advances in microbial ecology. Schink B. (ed) Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers, New York, p 41-84
Wang, S.M. and Dou, H.S. (1998). Chinese Lake Notes. Science, Press: Beijing. (In Chinese) (cited in: Xing W. and Liu G. (2011))
Xing, W., Huang, W.M., Shen, Y.W., Li, D.H., Li, G.B. and Liu, Y.D. (2006) Changes in the concentrations of size- fractionated iron and related environmental factors in northeastern part of Lake Dianchi (China). Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 15, 563-570.
Xing W. and Liu G. (2011) IRON BIOGEOCHEMISTRY AND IST ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS IN FRESHWATER LAKES. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, Vol 20, No. 6, 1339-1345.
Zhang, X.H. (1999) Iron cycle and transformation in drinking water source. Water and wastewater, 25, 18-22. (In Chinese) (cited in: Xing W. and Liu G. (2011))
Information on Registered Substances comes from registration dossiers which have been assigned a registration number. The assignment of a registration number does however not guarantee that the information in the dossier is correct or that the dossier is compliant with Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (the REACH Regulation). This information has not been reviewed or verified by the Agency or any other authority. The content is subject to change without prior notice.
Reproduction or further distribution of this information may be subject to copyright protection. Use of the information without obtaining the permission from the owner(s) of the respective information might violate the rights of the owner.